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Joe-Bot
A former museum attraction, Joe-bot has found a life of his own since the war. Living on the frontier of NCR territory, he is constantly on the lookout for "revenuers" trying to take his land and still. Biography Unit X5B-T31BC, designated "Joe-Bot" was commissioned for the Fresno California frontier museum in 2074. Once it arrived and was activated, it was put in an exhibit demonstrating frontier living, human actors unwilling to commit to the levels demanded to by the museum's director. Joe-Bot proved a popular draw, though more for the novelty than for the educational value. Joe-Bot was down for maintenance on the morning of October 23rd, 2077, and had no idea that most of the museum was destroyed by a blastwave. He sat in the shell of the structure for a hundred-fifty years, before a scavenger found and activated him. Still in his programmed character, Joe-Bot asked about his frontier cabin, to which the confused scaver merely shrugged. The human then made the mistake of trying to stop his prize from wandering off, which lead to his disintegration. Joe-Bot then walked through a hole in the wall and into the wastes. He entered the ruins on the edge of town, interpreting them as an abandoned mining town. He treaded to Sequoia National Park, where his programming decided it was a good homesteading site. Despite his lack of tools (and his hands' inability to hold them if he did posses them) Joe-Bot managed to create a hollow-spot in a tree where he sheltered as he built his homestead. This ended up being little more than fashioning a 'door' from a bush that he secured above his hollow, as well as dragging a picnic table to the campsite. With these now added, Joe-Bot then turned his attention to that next frontier necessity food. Joe-Bot, not having a bag of seeds, began to wander the park, using the knowledge of edible plants in his data-banks to gather seeds and wild flowers before returning to his homestead. He planted them haphazardly around his home, and then proceeded to gather another important element of frontier living; alcohol. This was much more difficult, as most bottles had already been taken, causing the robot to reason he had to make his own. Joe-Bot retrieved pots, pipes and generally anything made of copper or tin, and began to fashion it into a still. For his ingredients, he identified berries with high sugar contents and used these, making a small test batch. While the robot was satisfied with his brew, a diagnostic check over-rid his programming and alerted him he needed a power supply. This was not an easy task in a national park, and while there was a charge station in the ranger station, there was a robot using it already, and Joe-Bot wasn't one to ask for help form the "gov'mint." To that end he found the few fission batteries that were still around and used them to recharge, though the robot knew that was a temporary measure. To deal with this, he started digging, looking for a power line to splice into. This attracted the attention of the park ranger robot, who issued a stern warning. Joe-Bot responded by blasting the federal man several times, and claiming the recharge station. Joe-Bot was not content with the interior of the station however, and endeavored to drag the recharge station back to his homestead. He only managed to move it six feet however, the power cord not able to go further. Not to be deterred, the homesteader gathered the cables from the fixtures of the station, but none were able to be spliced in. His second attempt was to continue excavating the power cable, and trying to splice the station in, closer to his homestead. It took two days to finish the excavation and prepare the splice, recharging one last time before attempting it. Joe-Bot then had the idea to find the substation and turn off the power before possibly frying himself. He tracked the cord to the substation and turned off the power, then proceeded to splice the station in. The recharger did not explode, and Joe-Bot had finally established his homestead. Tribals came across Joe-Bot in 2234, and while the robot was wary of these "red-devils," the tribals approached peacefully, already knowing what an angry robot could do. Their broken english was an issue at first, but the robot quickly picked up the just of what they were saying. The two sides traded peacefully and managed to live with each other for a decade, when their isolation was interrupted by caravanners from the NCR. These traders had hoped to find exploitable land int he park, but seeing it was already inhabited, they decided to set up a trade post. They received the tribals' permission fairly easily, but when directed towards the robot, they found a harder sell. they managed to convince the automaton by gifting him a number of jars and containers to hold his liquor in, some of which he gave to celebrate. Joe-Bot's life remained mostly the same over the next several years, until others settlers began to move into the park in the early 2250s. This brought conflict soon after, as the tribals resented the influx of outsiders, and the settlers resented the opposition. This conflict inevitably brought mercenaries and the attention of the wider NCR, and the tribals were forced deeper into the park. The Robot frowned at this development, not because of any sympathy for the 'savages,' but because he didn't like 'easterners' snatching up land. He didn't involve himself in the conflict however, and minded it's own business as well as he could until 2262. That was the year the first NCR auditors & surveyors showed up at his homestead. They only examined it from afar however, being there for an initial estimate of revenue. Their presence put the robot on edge however, and he kept an eye out from then on. The auditors returned in 2267, this time to start collecting taxes. The first time they approached, Joe-Bot fired a warning shot in front of them, and told them to leave. The tax-men looked at the robot and wisely headed it's demands, continuing their collection from other residents of the park. For his part Joe-Bot continued to brew liquor and grow crops to make more liquor, some of which he occasionally traded with a neighbor, in what his programming deemed an authentic fashion. This became another point of concern with the encroaching NCR bureaucracy, who wished to tax this "brewing operation" and sent another collector, this time with a pair of mercenaries. The trio would not report back to their paymasters, and no one in the park reported to see them. Joe-Bot received only slight suspicion as the wasteland and parts of the park were still very dangerous, and his homestead was left alone for another four years. This time he was bothered not by outsiders but by his neighbors, who wanted him to support their request for official recognition of their community. Not liking the neighbors or the idea, the robot refused, and told off further visitors. The settlers went ahead with the petition, which despite the government's willingness to gather their taxes, got stuck in the bureaucracy. This was a relief to the robot who knew the 'evils' of the federals, and continued to go through his routine as he had for decades. This was disturbed in 2278, when the power flow to his recharging station was disturbed. Initially thinking it a problem with the old substation, Joe-Bot discovered something far more concerning. Set up on the site was a pair of engineers, with uniforms declaring they were from some sort of power company. Joe-Bot demanded to know why they had shut off his power, with them replying that their company had bought the power rights to that area, and were going to start charging the residents. Despite his first instinct to shoot the two, Joe-Bot had an idea that they would just be replaced with guards, so he decided to get his neighbors behind him. This proved to be somewhat of a challenge, due to his stand-offishness and gruff demeanor. Fortunately some of his neighbors shared his distrust of the government and city-folk, as well possessing better relations with their neighbors. After two weeks enough of the community gathered together that they were able to successful persuade the engineers and their corporate overlords that they needed to leave the power alone. This was a compromise however, as they allowed other NCR officials in, first under the guise of moderation, the to 'administrate' the region. The robot was less than pleased at this development, but decided to go along with it for the moment. He would manage to go about relatively unbothered by others. He continued to barter for supplies in exchange for alcohol, and even dealt with some NCR officials on rare occasions, but they eventually brought auditors to his door again. This led to an investigation against the robot since the auditor disappeared as well, but no proof could be found against Joe-Bot. He is currently considering adding a "root cellar" to his home-stead, literally in the root system. He has held off on this however, as a passing NCR official who heard him talking to himself and told him that would increase his tax rate. While he considered just disintegrating this trespasser, Joe-Bot held off on this. He has also started trading excess liquor for fusion batteries, quietly storing them up in case the power company tries another move. He has also tried to get better relations with his neighbors, but most have already had their fill of the robot. Appearance Joe-Bot is a standard Protectron model robot, who had modified his own appearance. This has mostly taken the form of a rotting coon-skin cap, and a crude Black Horn jacket, that wraps around his body more than he wears it. He has also experimented with fashioning a beard, but hasn't found a good way to affix it to his head Personality Joe-Bot has the stereotypical attitude of a "frontier homesteader" which is mainly being gruff and unwilling to take help. This also includes a dislike of trespassers, which has manifested itself in his homicidal leanings. His base robot programming will occasionally rise to the surface however, when his basic systems are threatened. Despite this, he has begun to develop traits independent of his programming, likely due to the decades without a memory wipe. Category:Characters Category:Synthetics Category:New California Republic